Slovak cbank chief explains rate meeting absence

...interest rate cut in two years by saying setting the bank's monetary policy was a continuous process.

Ivan Sramko spoke on a panel at a banking conference in Prague while back home his fellow policymakers were opting for a quarter point cut in the main repo rate to 4.5 percent.

Reports of his conference remarks prompted several private sector bankers to ring Reuters to say surely Sramko must be at the rate-setting meeting, not in Prague.

But Sramko said the way his central bank forms its policy meant his presence in Bratislava had not been essential.

"The discussions take place continuously, I think that the decision was made with competence and my presence or non-presence had no influence on it," he told reporters at the Prague conference.

"In our case, it is not just the moment of our session, but a continuous discussion."